Night and Day' The Biden administration and the press By Leonard Downie Jr - A special report of the Committee to Protect Journalists
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‘Night and Day’
The Biden administration and the press
By Leonard Downie Jr.
A special report of the Committee to Protect Journalists
‘Night and Day’ The Biden administration and the press By Leonard Downie Jr. A special report of the Committee to Protect Journalists
The Committee to Protect Journalists is an independent, nonprofit organization that promotes press
freedom worldwide. We defend the right of journalists to report the news safely and without fear
of reprisal. In order to preserve our independence, CPJ does not accept any government grants or
support of any kind; our work is funded entirely by contributions from individuals, foundations, and
corporations.
CHAIR VICE CHAIR HONORARY CHAIRMAN
Kathleen Carroll Jacob Weisberg Terry Anderson
DIRECTORS Peter Lattman Lydia Polgreen
emerson collective gimlet media
Stephen J. Adler
Isaac Lee Ahmed Rashid
Andrew Alexander exile content studio
David Remnick
Diane Brayton Rebecca MacKinnon the new yorker
the new york times wikimedia foundation
Maria Teresa Ronderos
Susan Chira Kati Marton
the marshall project Alan Rusbridger
Michael Massing lady margaret hall, oxford
Sheila Coronel
columbia university Geraldine Fabrikant Metz Nika Soon-Shiong
school of journalism the new york times fund for guaranteed income
Anne Garrels Matt Murray Karen Amanda Toulon
the wall street journal and
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ford foundation
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nbc news Roger Widmann
the nation
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the new yorker bloomberg news
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cnn international freedom forum propublica
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James C. Goodale
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Steven L. Isenberg journalism, university of
maryland
© 2022 Committee to Protect Journalists, New York. All rights reserved.
Design: John Emerson.
‘NIGHT AND DAY’: THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION AND THE PRESS
About this report
President Joe Biden’s approach to U.S. media is a stark contrast to Donald Trump’s vicious rhetoric. However, one year into
the Biden administration, press freedom advocates remain concerned about issues like the president’s limited availability
to journalists, the administration’s slow responses to requests for information, its planned extradition of Julian Assange,
restrictions on media access at the U.S. southern border and its limited assistance to Afghan journalists. A special report
of the Committee to Protect Journalists.
This report was written by Leonard Downie Jr., the Weil Family Professor of Journalism at Arizona State University’s
Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Downie is the former executive editor of The Washington
Post and the author of seven books, including his 2020 memoir, “All About the Story.” He also wrote CPJ’s 2013 report on
the Obama administration and 2020 report on the Trump administration.
Cover photo: President Joe Biden speaks to reporters in the Hall of Columns on the one-year
anniversary of the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. (Ken Cedeno/Pool via Reuters)
3
‘NIGHT AND DAY’: THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION AND THE PRESS
CONTENTS Introduction 7 The Biden White House and the press 8 Beyond the White House 11 Biden Justice Department and the press 14 Global press freedom 18 The future of the Biden administration and the press 23 CPJ’s recommendations 24
‘NIGHT AND DAY’: THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION AND THE PRESS
Introduction
T he first year of the Biden administration’s relation-
ship with the U.S. press has been an almost complete
reversal of the Trump administration’s unprecedentedly
Biden has also restored the editorial independence of
the U. S. Agency for Global Media, home of the Voice of
America, which the Trump administration had tried to
pervasive and damaging hostility, which seriously dam- turn into a propaganda agency. The website of the Envi-
aged the news media’s credibility and often spread misin- ronmental Protection Agency, largely scrubbed under
formation around the world. Trump of reliable information about climate change and
In marked contrast, President Joe Biden, White House other environmental issues, has reinstated those resources.
press secretary Jen Psaki and administration officials have Not that everything has been to the news media’s liking
repeatedly stressed the importance of working with the or to the public’s benefit.
news media to keep Americans informed. Reporters still Although Biden and administration officials have
have had issues with access to the president and some ad- mostly appeared to avoid the willful misinformation that
ministration officials and information. But there have not characterized the Trump White House, news media fact-
been any vicious attacks on journalists as enemies of the checkers have identified numerous misleading and false
people or accusations of “fake news.” claims in both Biden’s prepared and extemporaneous re-
“The most obvious change is the change in rhetoric,” marks. They were especially frequent in his explanations
University of Georgia media and law professor Jonathan for and defenses of the chaotic U.S. troop withdrawal in
Peters told me. “What’s gone is rhetoric from the president Afghanistan.
or administration officials designed to delegitimize the Some other issues were raised during my interviews
news media.” with more than 30 journalists, academic news media ob-
Overall, reporters told me, there have been significant servers, press freedom advocates, and Biden administra-
improvements in the day-to-day informational relation- tion officials.
ships with the news media. Regular briefings for the press • Freedom of Information Act experts have seen little
have been restored at the White House and the State and improvement in the response of government agencies
Defense Departments – essential elements for repairing to journalists’ FOIA requests for information, and the
the damage to press freedom in the U.S. and bolstering administration has not announced any FOIA response
credibility when administration officials push for press directives.
freedom overseas. • Press freedom advocates are disappointed by the admin-
At the Department of Justice, Attorney General Merrick istration’s reaction to requests to help Afghan journal-
Garland – at Biden’s direction – has stopped federal sub- ists whose lives and work have been endangered by the
poenas of reporters’ telephone and email records to find Taliban’s takeover of the country in mid-August.
government sources of classified government informa- • The Biden administration’s efforts to extradite
tion, an unprecedented number of whom were prosecuted WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange from the U.K. have
and imprisoned during the Trump and Obama admin- raised fears that the language of the espionage indict-
istrations. There have been no new federal prosecutions ment against him could set a dangerous precedent for
of such sources to date under Biden. Instead, the Justice use against journalists trying to do their jobs.
Department is investigating and prosecuting people who • While political correspondents welcome the adminis-
physically attacked journalists during the violent, Trump- tration’s return to daily press briefings, many are con-
inspired invasion of the U. S. Capitol in Washington on cerned about control by the White House and cabinet
January 6, 2021. And it is investigating abusive treatment department press offices over access to administration
of reporters by police in Minneapolis, Louisville and officials – and restrictions on naming and quoting them
Phoenix. in stories.
7
Press Secretary Jen Psaki takes questions from White House reporters. Psaki reinstated daily briefings after a long hiatus under the Trump administration.
(Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)
THE BIDEN WHITE HOUSE AND THE PRESS magazine, in addition to her frequent interviews on televi-
sion and radio.
O ne key concern among White House reporters is
their limited access to Biden. He has given far fewer
press conferences and media interviews than either Barack
Biden held just one full-scale solo press conference at
the White House and four on foreign trips during his first
year in office, according to authoritative records kept by
Obama or Donald Trump in their first years in office, and political scientist Martha Kumar, director of the White
he has responded to fewer impromptu questions from re- House Transition Project during several administrations.
porters at White House or public events. By Kumar’s count, Biden had given just 22 interviews as
Instead, Press Secretary Jen Psaki, or one of her depu- president to members of the news media by the end of
ties, have held daily televised press briefings for White 2021, a fraction of the 92 Trump had done, or the 150
House reporters after they had not occurred for months at that Obama had done during the same period in their
a time in the Trump White House. presidencies.
Psaki, a veteran spokesperson for Democratic presiden- Biden relies more on prepared remarks that he has read
tial campaigns, the Obama White House and the State on television from a teleprompter, taking few or no ques-
Department, was well-prepared for her role, a striking tions from reporters kept some distance away, behind the
contrast to Trump’s four less-experienced, notably com- teleprompter and the cameras. “If he doesn’t want to take
bative, press secretaries. In some ways, Psaki has become more or any questions,” Associated Press White House
second only to Biden as a public face of his administration, correspondent Zeke Miller told me, “he’ll turn around and
even receiving attention like a favorable profile in Vogue walk away.”
‘NIGHT AND DAY’: THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION AND THE PRESS“While President Biden has taken questions more often Biden aides “are not at war with each other,” Washing-
at his events than his predecessors, he spends less time do- ton Post White House correspondent Ashley Parker told
ing so,” Kumar said. “He provides short answers with few me. “Very few go rogue. It’s very much like the Obama ad-
follow-ups when he takes questions at the end of a previ- ministration’s discipline,” she added. “They give you sanc-
ously scheduled speech. He often takes one or two ques- tioned White House details. They don’t want to talk to you
tions while his predecessors took more queries at fewer about disagreements.”
events.” “It’s night and day,” ABC’s Karl told me. “We’ve reverted
Kumar believes that the White House staff works to to close to normal. In the late Trump days, you couldn’t
minimize Biden’s extemporaneous remarks because of his talk to any officials on the record.”
tendency to make mistakes, which he has had to correct Steve Coll, dean of the Columbia University Journalism
later. “They’ve been trying to button him up,” said Kumar, School, says that Biden has moved to restore norms de-
who works out of a White House basement office. “The stroyed by the Trump administration. “On matters dealing
president is more likely to make a mistake toward the end with traditional relationships between the White House
of a press conference.” and the press, this is a president who is old school,” Coll
When he cut off reporters’ questions after a televised told me.
speech at the White House about the nation’s Covid surge “The White House press office is a much more robust
on December 21, Biden told them, “I’m not supposed to be operation,” said Miller, the AP’s veteran White House
having this press conference right now.” Correspondent. “Many more people. More information on
“Tactics differ from administration to administration,” paper. More prepared.”
Psaki told me. “The president probably takes more ques- When Biden selected her to be his press secretary, Psaki
tions overall. He does short question and answer sessions told me in an interview for this report, “I had conversations
a couple times a week. He takes two to 10 questions each with the president during the transition and discussed his
time.” White House reporters might disagree with the understanding of the role of the press corps and the role
larger number. “We have an open conversation about that,” of the White House briefing. What was most important to
Psaki added. him was the right tone and providing as much information
“We need more access to Biden himself,” said Jonathan as possible.”
Karl, ABC News White House correspondent and a past Psaki offers authoritative, if carefully circumscribed,
president of the White House Correspondents’ Associa- information in her briefings. She spars firmly but good-
tion. “Press access to him is so far very limited. Press con- naturedly with reporters, sometimes challenging the un-
ferences are few and far between. His people seem to wall derlying assumptions of their questions with a quick wit
him off from the press.” known on social media as #PsakiBomb. She has made a
The White House press office also closely controls point of also calling on reporters from Fox News and other
reporters’ access to administration officials. Too many right-wing media critical of Biden. Recalling her discus-
briefings and conversations with “senior administration sions with Biden about the briefings, she told me, “It was
officials,” arranged by the White House and cabinet de- important to take questions from everyone.”
partment press offices, are conducted only “on deep back- Psaki “deserves credit for holding daily briefings again
ground,” meaning that the officials cannot be identified and reducing sniping from the podium,” Frank Sesno, for-
or quoted, except for any quotes that are approved by the mer director of the George Washington University School
press office before publication. “They have been very tight of Media and Public Affairs, told me. “It’s a respectful even
for the most part,” said Dan Balz, veteran chief political though adversarial relationship.”
correspondent for The Washington Post. “The early days of “There is still a very healthy distance,” Miller said. “Just
the administration have been very choreographed – most- because the temperature has cooled, there is still an un-
ly scripted events.” derlying contentious relationship.”
That careful scripting extends to Biden’s social media “We have returned to some baseline of cooperation,”
posts, a stark contrast to Trump’s plethora of stream-of- even though “members of the press are not always satis-
conscious tweets. There is also far less leaking to the me- fied,” Psaki said. “That back and forth is healthy. I hope we
dia of insider deliberations or disagreements than there have an open line of communication.”
was in the rivalrous Trump White House. Miller added that “Psaki is bringing into the briefing
9President Biden leaves without taking questions from reporters after remarks on the economy at the White House on September 16, 2021. Biden has given fewer
press conferences than either Barack Obama or Donald Trump in their first years in office. (Reuters/Leah Millis)
room cabinet secretaries and other officials on a regular anything said in a background briefing or interview that
basis” for on-the-record briefings on administration ac- they want to put on the record in their stories. “They’re
tions and policies. Psaki told me, “I am proud of bringing approving content again for a second time,” she said.
in administration experts and cabinet members on a fre- Parker told me that The Washington Post’s team of
quent basis.” White House reporters decided on their own “to not allow
Other briefings and interviews with “senior adminis- White House officials to speak on background with-on-
tration officials” are offered on “deep background,” which the record quote approval. We still speak to sources on
means that reporters cannot identify or quote them. background when it makes sense. What we do not do, is
“Everything has to be on background,” said Anita speak to sources on background and then go after them
Kumar, (no relation to Martha Kumar), a senior Politico and ask them to approve their quotes for on the record.
editor who covered the White House for nine years. “Con- “The press office controls access to senior officials,”
stant background briefings with White House or agency Parker said. “You have to go through the press office.
officials.” They ask questions about what you want to know in detail
Psaki says that decisions on background briefings de- – more like Obama. You pre-negotiate with the press of-
pend on the comfort level of the person speaking to the fice or the officials’ assistants on time and terms. They’re
reporter. “Many of them are comfortable only speaking often on the phone to control time.”
on background,” she told me. “If you place a call to someone on Biden’s White House
However, Politico’s Kumar noted that reporters must staff, or even a Biden ally outside the White House,” said
ask the White House press office for “quote approval” for Karl of ABC News, “you will frequently get a call back
‘NIGHT AND DAY’: THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION AND THE PRESSfrom the press office asking about what you want, what escorted out quickly. Trump often let them in, and he took
story you are pursuing. They usually will eventually get many questions on the way to Marine One.”
you in touch with the official – supervised by the press Psaki’s response: “If we were trying to prevent [Biden]
office, somebody there in the interview.” from engaging with the press, we are not doing a very
“Sometimes, officials want to know what the story is good job.”
about,” Psaki responded when I asked about this. “They
rely on the press office for context.” Someone from the
press office does often monitor interviews, she acknowl- BEYOND THE WHITE HOUSE
edged, “to better know what the story is about.”
Miller, another past president of the White House
Correspondents’ Association, told me that he doesn’t go R eporters covering Biden administration’s cabinet de-
partments and agencies similarly have found both im-
provements and limitations in their access to officials and
through the press office all the time for officials he knows.
“There are still some sources who will speak to you on an information.
unscripted basis,” he said. But they often will not talk on At the State Department, daily press briefings resumed
the record. “The press office is still the gatekeeper for se- after a long hiatus during the Trump administration. In
nior White House staff.” contrast to former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s open,
What would Miller change if he could? “More substan- often angry hostility to reporters, Antony Blinken, Biden’s
tive back and forth with the president to reveal what is on secretary of state, declared, on his first day in office, that
his mind,” he said. “And ditch the senior administration the news media are a “cornerstone of our democracy” and
official label” by putting more briefings and interviews on promised to cooperate with them.
the record with officials’ names. “Senior officials are encouraged to do background calls
“Like the Obama administration, the Biden press team to explain issues,” to do television interviews and to ap-
wants to control the story, although it is not as argumen- pear before reporters in the briefing room, State Depart-
tative as the Obama administration, whose press team ment spokesperson Ned Price told me. “Our disposition is
was very thin-skinned,” Karl told me. “They argued vigor- to say yes whenever possible.”
ously with reporters. They didn’t hesitate to call editors or “It’s been quite an improvement for reporters cover-
executive producers when they didn’t like a story. Not so ing the State Department,” said Shaun Tandon of Agence
much in the Biden administration.” France Presse, president of the State Department Corre-
“When it’s important to them, they can argue,” Polit- spondents’ Association. “We have good access to Secre-
ico’s Anita Kumar said, adding that it’s very rare for the tary Blinken, who holds regular press briefings, plus infor-
Biden press office not to respond to her even when they mal access to him when he’s traveling abroad.”
don’t want to comment. “There’s so much discipline in However, reporters still must usually go through State’s
this White House,” she added. “They have a message they press office to talk to other officials. “The message is very
want to put out each day. They don’t want to deviate from heavily managed,” Tandon told me, “but the overall tone
it.” is positive. It’s handled in a polite way. They’re not cursing
White House and cabinet officials also promote that you out.”
message more directly to voters with interviews with na- Washington Post State Department reporter John Hud-
tional and local news media around the country. By mid- son agreed. “There’s a lot that we’re not being told about,
summer, according to CNN’s Reliable Sources, White so a lot of digging is required,” he told me. “They have
House and cabinet officials, including Psaki, had done done a good job of making officials available for briefings.
more than 1,000 interviews with local news outlets, most- The press office hasn’t come down on people like a ton of
ly local television stations, from a studio in the Executive bricks, although conversations can be tough at times.”
Office Building next to the White House. At the Defense Department, after President Trump’s
“There is less access with Biden than with Trump,” The first defense secretary, General James Mattis, was gen-
Post’s Parker told me. “A few shouted questions after his erally uncooperative with the news media, his successor,
appearances and speeches, and when he is going to and Mark Esper significantly increased press access. So, the
from Marine One. Only a 12-person pool [of reporters] for transition for Pentagon reporters was less noticeable
meetings with the cabinet or visiting dignitaries, and it is with Biden’s Defense secretary, Lloyd Austin III. However,
11Missy Ryan, a Washington Post national security corre- cooperative with reporters. “I’m cautiously optimistic,” Sa- spondent, said there was “less tension and more access to die Babits, president of the Society of Environmental Re- information” in Austin’s Pentagon. porters, told me. “It’s been pretty responsive, with most re- Pentagon press secretary John Kirby has talked to re- porters having a more normal experience with the agency.” porters daily and “increased availability of officials and “EPA and (Department of) Interior top press people for reversed restrictions” on access to information, and “will the most part have been extremely straightforward,” said engage you when you go to them with stories,” Ryan told Juliet Eilperin, the Washington Post’s veteran environmen- me. Austin also has made himself more available to the tal reporter. EPA and Interior officials reached through press. However, to interview other civilian and military of- the press offices are accessible to make sure stories are ac- ficials, “they still want you always to go through the press curate, she added, although “their insistence on anonymity offices, of which there are many at the Pentagon for the continues to be a major problem.” various services.” A Society of Environmental Journalists’ (SEJ) internal No part of the Trump administration was as combat- survey of national news organizations’ environmental re- ive and uncooperative with the press as the Environmen- porters found that “most of them got what they wanted tal Protection Agency. It repeatedly issued press releases most of the time” after getting “no or little response dur- attacking individual reporters and news organizations ing the Trump administration,” said former SEJ president for critical stories about the agency. EPA’s website under Tim Wheeler. Although “the press office still insists on be- Trump was scrubbed of information and resources about ing an intermediary to get information or an interview,” he climate change and other environmental issues. added, “it is more professional in its treatment of report- All that information and more is back up on the EPA ers and responses to requests for interviews with political website under Biden, and its press office is much more appointees.” Reporters say they have ‘good access’ to Secretary of State Antony Blinken. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via Reuters) ‘NIGHT AND DAY’: THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION AND THE PRESS
The headquarters of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Washington, D.C. The EPA has reinstated on its website the information about climate change
and other environmental issues largely scrubbed under Trump. (Reuters/Andrew Kelly)
“We really wanted to reset our relationship with the border,” he told me, “even though they engaged in misin-
news media,” Lindsay Hamilton, associate EPA admin- formation and retaliated for stories they didn’t like.
istrator for public affairs, told me. “We started by doing “It’s been tough” with the Biden administration, said
direct outreach to key reporters who cover us the most. Miroff. “They have tightened up access to information
We told them we wanted to have a positive professional and engaged in more professional message control. That
relationship.” leaves reporters at a disadvantage in informing the public.
Hamilton said she conducted media training for the They are less transparent,” although “it isn’t adversarial.”
agency’s subject matter experts, for whom dealing with “Reporters are frustrated with the lack of access at the
reporters “can be an uncomfortable experience at times.” border,” Miroff added. When they were denied access to
She added that “we still ask that reporters coordinate the huge encampment of Haitian migrants on the Mexico-
with public affairs to speak to them. We determine how Texas border in October, “reporters had to go to Mexico
to handle each interview.” and cross the Rio Grande with the Haitians.”
Compared to the Trump administration, reporting Control by the press offices of cabinet departments and
on the Department of Homeland Security and its role agencies over access to administration officials – and re-
in dealing with the record number of migrants trying to strictions on naming and quoting them in stories -- were
cross the southern U.S. border has ironically been more primary concerns of reporters I interviewed for this re-
difficult, if not as combative, during the first year of the port. Named sources and attributed quotes and informa-
Biden administration, according to Washington Post re- tion make news stories more credible. Their absence can
porter Nick Miroff. “The Trump DHS was less disciplined, be used for false charges of “fake news.”
so it was easier to develop sources and gain access to the Barriers to access to government documents and other
13U.S. Border Patrol agents watch as migrants seeking refuge in the United States cross the Rio Grande in Ciudad Acuna, Mexico, on September 20, 2021. Journalists say
they’ve found it harder to cover events at the border under the Biden administration than under Trump. (Reuters/Daniel Becerril)
information also continue to frustrate the press. Despite is involved in considerable news media FOIA litigation.
public commitments from both Biden and Attorney Gen- “Not a whole lot has changed from previous administra-
eral Garland to increase government transparency, Free- tions’ delays and denials of FOIA requests by journalists,”
dom of Information Act experts have seen little improve- Marshall said. “It’s largely a continuation of what we had.
ment in the slow and often uncooperative response of There is no information on how FOIA would work in this
government agencies to journalists’ FOIA requests for in- administration.”
formation. Formal letters to Biden and Garland from press
freedom and civil society groups with specific proposals
for improvements have gone unanswered. The adminis-
BIDEN JUSTICE DEPARTMENT AND THE PRESS
P
tration has not announced any FOIA response directives. resident Biden made one of the most important press
In the Obama and Trump administrations, “there freedom decisions of his administration’s first year in
had been backlogs and delays, fully redacted documents what had appeared to be an impromptu answer to a report-
or nothing at all,” University of Georgia professor Peters er’s question at the White House. Biden was asked on May
told ame. “There’s been a rise in pending FOIA legal cases, 21 about the Justice Department subpoenas and seizures of
and they are taking longer to close. I would love for the journalists’ telephone and email records, as was frequently
Biden administration to change that. But there is not yet done during the Obama and Trump administrations.
evidence of change.” “Absolutely, positively it’s wrong,” the President
“I haven’t heard any indications of improvements for responded. “It’s simply, simply wrong.”
journalists,” said Adam Marshall, senior staff attorney for “So, you won’t let your Justice Department do that?”
the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, who the reporter persisted.
‘NIGHT AND DAY’: THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION AND THE PRESS“I will not let that happen,” Biden said. within the scope of newsgathering activities,” the Attorney
The reporter asked because the Justice Department General wrote. He said that Justice would revise its guide-
had recently informed three Washington Post reporters lines for federal prosecutors accordingly.
and the Pentagon correspondent for CNN that Justice, in The memo made exceptions in cases of reporters being
the final days of the Trump administration, had secretly investigated for a crime unrelated to their coverage, or of
obtained their phone and email records in investigations reporters considered agents of foreign powers, or when it
of leaks of government information to them. Days after would be necessary “to prevent an imminent risk of death
Biden’s statements, Justice informed The New York Times or serious bodily harm, including terrorist attacks, kid-
that it also had secretly obtained phone records of four of nappings, specified offenses against a minor,” or attacks on
its reporters. None of the records seizures had previously critical infrastructure. And the new prohibition does not
been revealed or reversed by Justice under Biden. affect the seizure of records of any government employee
In mid-June, Attorney General Merrick Garland met “who has unlawfully disclosed government information.”
with executives of the Post, the Times and CNN. He “The memo is a real change in policy,” Bruce Brown, ex-
agreed with them that the Department of Justice (DOJ) ecutive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom
should establish “strong durable rules” to fulfill Biden’s of the Press, said approvingly. “We loved what Biden did,”
promise that reporters’ phone and email records would no he told me. “We loved what DOJ did.”
longer be seized. On July 19, Garland released a memo to Brown added that he and a group of news media leaders
the nation’s federal prosecutors ordering that the practice and lawyers who had met with Garland before the memo
be stopped. was made public plan to meet with DOJ again to discuss
“The Justice Department will no longer use compul- how it will be translated into the guidelines for federal pros-
sory legal process for the purpose of obtaining informa- ecutors. Brown said that they are particularly concerned
tion from or records of members of the news media acting about how narrowly the exemptions to the prohibition on
Attorney General Merrick Garland has ordered federal prosecutors to stop seizing phone and email records from reporters ‘acting within the scope of newsgathering
activities.’ (Carolyn Kaster/Pool via Reuters)
15the seizure of reporters’ records will be framed. The Trump-era indictment charged Assange with con-
Justice Department public affairs director Anthony spiring with U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Man-
Coley confirmed to me that “we will meet again with the ning to acquire and publish classified military and diplo-
news media dialogue group.” He added that “one big ques- matic information on WikiLeaks.
tion is, how does one identify a reporter?” In February 2021, the Justice Department filed a brief
“We don’t know exactly what the revisions will be,” Uni- appealing a British court ruling that had blocked extra-
versity of Georgia’s Peters told me. “There are holes in the dition of Assange from the UK. We are continuing to
Garland memo. What does ‘engaged in newsgathering’ seek extradition, Justice spokesperson Marc Raimondi
mean? Who is ‘a member of the news media’? DOJ has a said at the time. On December 10, Britain’s High Court
lot of discretion. We hope that will be more particularized ruled that Assange could be extradited after assurances
in the guidelines.” from the Biden administration that, if convicted, Assange
“The Biden administration is not just stepping away would not be sent to the highest-security U.S. prison or
from what Trump was doing, but also what Obama was put into solitary confinement. Assange’s lawyers said they
doing,” said Trevor Timm, executive director of the Free- would seek to make additional appeals on free speech and
dom of the Press Foundation. “But, so far, it’s just words. human rights grounds. A Justice Department spokesper-
It needs to be written into Justice Department guidelines. son declined to comment further.
And Congress needs to take the words of Garland and A coalition of press, civil liberties and human rights
write them into law.” groups have urged the Biden administration to drop its
During the Obama administration, the Justice Depart- extradition efforts because they believe prosecution of
ment prosecuted an unprecedented 10 government em- Assange poses a grave danger to press freedom. Many or-
ployees and contractors for leaking classified information ganizations fear that successful prosecution of him could
to the news media, including Justice investigations begun hamper investigative reporting around the world by la-
under President George W. Bush. Reporters’ phone logs beling as espionage the ways that reporters often work in
and email records were secretly subpoenaed and seized in seeking information from government sources.
several of those cases. Under Donald Trump, Justice pros- “What is written in the indictment is a threat to jour-
ecuted eight more government employees and contractors nalists everywhere – obtaining and publishing classified
for leaks to the press. In addition, it indicted Julian As- information,” Timm of the Freedom of the Press Founda-
sange, founder of WikiLeaks, with obtaining secret mili- tion told me. “The Assange prosecution would make re-
tary and diplomatic documents and publishing them on porting on national security a crime. It could criminalize
the WikiLeaks website, making them accessible to news investigative reporting. The Biden administration should
media around the world. drop the charges.”
Under pressure from Trump, Justice also opened leak Columbia Journalism School’s Coll agreed. “The As-
investigations that involved the secret seizures in 2020 of sange case should be dropped,” he told me. The indict-
2017 phone and email records of the Post, Times and CNN ment “is full of misunderstandings about how reporting
reporters. The Biden-era Justice Department did not dis- works – very ordinary reporting.”
close the seizures until notifying the targeted reporters in “It’s really troubling that in the indictment was a char-
May and June of 2021. While Garland took responsibil- acterization of basic reporting as part of a conspiracy,”
ity, Brown of the Reporters Committee said that the news said University of Georgia’s Peters.
media leaders and lawyers who met with Garland “made “How does the administration square new protections
clear there should be accountability within DOJ” for the for journalists with the actions it takes on Assange?” asked
secrecy and delay in notifications. Columbia Law School’s Professor Jameel Jaffer. “The an-
Brown and other press freedom advocates also remain swer will shed light on the scope of those protections.”
concerned about what the Biden Justice Department Other issues also linger in what remains of the toxic
will do with the long-standing indictment of Assange Trump-era anti-press environment. Among them are
under the 1917 Espionage Act, which was used by both continuing aggressive actions against reporters by both
the Obama and Trump administrations for many of their law enforcement officials and members of the public. In
prosecutions of government employees and contractors 2021, 59 journalists were arrested or detained by police,
for leaking classified information to the press. according to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, after 142
‘NIGHT AND DAY’: THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION AND THE PRESSSupporters of Julian Assange protest outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London against a court ruling that the WikiLeaks founder could be extradited to the U.S.
Human rights groups fear that the Biden administration’s use of the Espionage Act to prosecute Assange poses a grave threat to press freedom. (Reuters/Henry
Nicholls)
such arrests in 2020. Another 142 journalists had been as- Coley at Justice told me that those investigations will
saulted either by law enforcement officers or members of include how the police departments treated reporters cov-
the public, a significant reduction from the 436 assaulted ering demonstrations in those cities. “We have reached out
in 2020, but still a worrying sign of remaining hostility. to reporters’ groups” for information, he said, and CNN
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press is compiling information for Justice’s civil rights division.
and a coalition of 91 news media organizations asked At- “This is something the Attorney General cares deeply
torney General Garland on April 29 to investigate law en- about,” Coley added.
forcement’s treatment of the press as part of the Justice In July, Justice began arresting and prosecuting people
Department’s new civil rights investigations of local police for attacking reporters and destroying press camera equip-
departments in Minneapolis, Louisville and Phoenix dur- ment during the January 6 invasion of the U.S. Capitol.
ing the Black Lives Matter protests that swept the nation “We welcome the Justice Department’s steps to hold people
after the murder of George Floyd. accountable for assaulting journalists and damaging their
In addition to the arrests of members of the news me- equipment as they documented one of the worst attacks
dia covering demonstrations in American cities in 2020, on our democracy in recent times,” Brown of the Report-
the groups’ letter to Garland said, “dozens more reporters ers Committee said at the time. “These charges send a very
were struck by less-lethal weapons, exposed to chemical clear message that the Justice Department will protect
munitions, or otherwise subjected to unwarranted force.” journalists who are doing their jobs to keep us informed.”
17Federal law enforcement officers fire tear gas and other munitions to disperse protesters during a demonstration against police violence and racial inequality in Port-
land, Oregon, on July 30, 2020. A coalition of news organizations has asked Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate officials’ treatment of reporters covering
the protests. (Reuters/Caitlin Ochs)
GLOBAL PRESS FREEDOM Networks and Office of Cuba Broadcasting. Their mis-
sions had long been to provide accurate, uncensored news
B iden administration officials have publicly supported
global press freedom at a time of greatly increased
suppression of news media and attacks on journalists in
to countries throughout the world, especially those with-
out a free press.
After a two-year struggle, President Trump had suc-
many countries, which Trump appeared to encourage in ceeded in June 2020 in winning confirmation for Pack in
his meetings with authoritarian foreign leaders. Up until the Republican-controlled Senate. Pack immediately be-
Biden’s Summit for Democracy in December, however, lit- gan reorienting the agency to force its long autonomous
tle had been done visibly to back up the administration’s news networks to promote Trump and his “America First”
words, and it remains to be seen how initiatives from the political agenda. Pack suspended much of USAGM’s se-
summit will be implemented. nior leadership, removed the heads of each of its five news
Particularly important for press freedom was Biden’s organizations, refused to renew visas of many of their
decision on his first day in office to remove Trump ap- foreign-national journalists, and ordered investigations of
pointee Michael Pack as CEO of the United States Agen- their journalists and news coverage decisions. He elimi-
cy for Global Media. USAGM is an independent federal nated the USAGM “firewall” that had prohibited any at-
agency composed of Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/ tempt by its leadership “to direct, pressure, coerce, threat-
Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, Middle East Broadcasting en, interfere with, or otherwise impermissibly influence
‘NIGHT AND DAY’: THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION AND THE PRESSany of the USAGM networks.” administration’s rhetoric has fallen short when it comes to
Some of the suspended and remaining USAGM officials support of press freedom around the world.
sued in federal court. In November, 2020, U.S. District Michael DeDora, Washington advocacy manager for
Court Chief Judge Beryl Howell issued a preliminary in- the Committee to Protect Journalists, cited the plight of
junction against Pack interfering with personnel decisions American and Afghan journalists after the Taliban take-
at the five USAGM networks or ordering investigations over of Afghanistan. The administration has been criti-
into journalistic content, individual editors or journalists. cized for its limited assistance to at-risk reporters, with
Pack ignored the injunction, while the Trump Justice De- New York Times media columnist Ben Smith reporting
partment appealed. that even Afghan journalists working for U.S.-funded me-
After demanding Pack’s resignation on Inauguration dia outlets like Radio Free Europe had to make their own
Day, Biden immediately appointed senior Voice of Ameri- arrangements to flee the country.
ca leader Kelu Chao as Acting CEO of USAGM. Chao, who DeDora told me that American news organizations, the
had joined the lawsuit against Pack, brought back all the Committee to Protect Journalists and other press groups –
senior USAGM executives and the leaders of its five news working with foreign governments and the United Nations
networks. She told me that she also renewed the visas of – had to do much of the work to extract American and Af-
their foreign journalists and restored the firewall “in prac- ghan journalists during and after the chaotic evacuation
tice,” while it is rewritten. of American forces.
“Every level of people needs to know that it is there, “There was no central person over at State to handle
and that the independence of our journalists has been re- the challenges of Afghanistan,” said DeDora, who was in-
stored,” Chao told me. “I want people to know that US- volved in CPJ’s efforts. “The administration could be more
AGM is nothing without our journalists and their freedom. forceful to make certain that journalists are dealt with
We were lucky that Biden won.” safely.”
Secretary of State Blinken met with Chao on April 6 “to “I can’t understand the criticism,” Price responded. “We
discuss the vital role that free and independent media play established a task force with the sole goal to help with
in the preservation and promotion of democratic princi- the extraction” of American and Afghan journalists and
ples worldwide.” The meeting focused on Russia’s decision translators and drivers for American journalists. He said
to label Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio about 500 have gotten out of Afghanistan so far.
Liberty news content as produced by foreign agents. But Among those still in Afghanistan are a number of US-
the State Department also took the opportunity to declare AGM journalists and their families, Martins Zvaners, Ra-
in a statement that “the editorially independent reporting dio Free Europe’s deputy director for external affairs, told
of these (five USAGM) networks is particularly important me. “There are still people who need help getting out,” he
in countries with repressive media environments, includ- said, because of passport and visa issues. He cited as an
ing where independent journalism is censored or freedom example three widows of USAGM journalists killed by the
of expression is restricted or punished.” Taliban, who are not eligible on their own for special visas.
Blinken and Biden have spoken on other occasions “We can’t get U.S. support for them,” he said.
about the need to reverse a global trend toward suppres- The State Department has assisted with resettlement of
sion of press freedom and attacks on journalists, with USAGM journalists and their families “once we got them
Biden saying on World Press Freedom Day that the U.S. out” of Afghanistan, added Zvaners. “USAGM did a lot of
was recommitting “to protecting and promoting free, in- things on our own.”
dependent, and diverse media around the world.” Senator Benjamin Cardin of Maryland and Congress-
Blinken’s World Press Freedom Day comments referred man Steve Cohen of Tennessee sent a September 10 letter
to “the brave journalists who face intimidation, harass- to Secretary of State Blinken, expressing “our grave con-
ment, arrest, and violence in exercising their rights.” cern for USAGM employees and their families who are
“One major step the Biden administration has taken is still in Afghanistan.” State Department official Naz Du-
to speak respectfully about the press,” University of Geor- rakogu responded on December 20 that State “is continu-
gia professor Peters told me at the end of August. “But ing its efforts to assist those who are still in the country.”
there is more work to do beyond rhetorical treatment.” In May, a group of press freedom groups, led by the
For many press freedom activists, however, the Committee to Protect Journalists, met with the National
19Evacuees from Afghanistan sit inside a military aircraft on August 19, 2021, after fleeing the Taliban takeover. The Biden administration has been criticized for its
limited assistance to Afghan journalists. (Staff Sgt. Brandon Cribelar/U.S. Marine Corps/Handout via Reuters)
Security Council and made recommendations for Biden and fragile settings,” the White House said. The indepen-
administration actions to increase and protect global and dent fund is co-chaired by Nobel Prize-winning journalist
domestic press freedom. They included strengthening Na- Maria Ressa of the Philippines and former New York Times
tional Security Council and State Department press free- CEO and BBC director general Mark Thompson, who wel-
dom capabilities that had been destroyed by the Trump comed Biden’s promised assistance.
administration. Biden announced that USAID also would create and
“To my knowledge, very few of the recommendations contribute up to $9 million to a Defamation Defense Fund
have been acted on,” CPJ’s DeDora told me. The NSC for Journalists “to help protect investigative journalists
meeting “was to lead to a series of meetings with policy against nuisance lawsuits designed to prevent them from
makers. But that hasn’t happened.” doing their work – their vital work around the world.” US-
However, during his virtual international Summit for AID administrator Samantha Power, said the fund would
Democracy in December, President Biden, the White protect journalists against “autocrats and oligarchs” who
House, and the U.S. Agency for International Develop- often use lawsuits as “a crude but effective tactic to kill
ment (USAID) announced a number of mostly financial stories they don’t like.”
steps to “support free and independent media” around the The White House said, without details, that USAID
world. also will spend up to $5 million to launch a Media Vi-
USAID “will provide up to $30 million” to the new, ability Accelerator “to improve the financial viability of
multi-donor International Fund for Public Interest Media independent media outlets in both under-developed and
“to enhance the independence, development and sustain- more-developed media markets.” It said the Biden admin-
ability of independent media, especially in resource-poor istration “will increase its engagement with the Media
‘NIGHT AND DAY’: THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION AND THE PRESSPresident Biden and Secretary of State Blinken attend the virtual Summit for Democracy with leaders at the White House on December 9, 2021. Biden announced a
number of financial steps to support independent media at the summit. (Reuters/Leah Millis)
Freedom Coalition, an intergovernmental partnership the killing and imprisoning of scores of journalists – in-
working to advocate for media freedom and the safety of cluding in countries invited by the Biden administration
journalists worldwide.” And it said the State Department to participate in the Summit for Democracy. DeDora ac-
will provide up to $3.5 million to establish a Journalism knowledged that State officials do often reach out to af-
Protection Platform, “which will provide at-risk journal- fected journalists and media organizations and interna-
ists with digital and physical security training, psychologi- tional press freedom groups.
cal care, legal aid and other forms of assistance.” “State regularly speaks out in statements when journal-
CPJ’s DeDora welcomed these announcements. “On ists around the world have come under threat or worse,”
balance, the administration did an excellent job crafting State Department spokesperson Ned Price told me. “It is
impactful commitments for global press freedom,” he told also something we raise with our counterparts around the
me. “One of the recommendations at the May meeting was world privately.” He added that State’s Bureau of Democ-
to increase the amount of money the U.S. gives to inter- racy, Human Rights and Labor “has regularly met with
national organizations that work on global press freedom. journalists and outlets that have been kicked out of other
This is the most clear and specific outcome so far.” countries.”
At the same time, DeDora remained critical of what he The Biden administration also has been strongly criti-
saw as a failure by the State Department to create specific cized by the news media and press freedom groups for not
institutional capabilities to respond to growing threats to doing more to hold Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin
press freedom around the world. News media and CPJ re- Salman accountable for the Saudis’ murder of Washington
ports document widespread takeovers and shutdowns of Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. “The leader of a world
independent news media by authoritarian regimes – and power has gotten away with the murder of a journalist,”
21A demonstrator wearing a mask depicting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attends a protest outside the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul. The Biden administration has been criticized for not doing enough to hold bin Salman accountable for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. (Reuters/Osman Orsal) DeDora told me. advisor, Jake Sullivan, has had meetings with both bin “The message it sent was, if you are important enough Salman and with his brother, Prince Khalid bin Salman, to the U.S. economy, that’s okay,” Post media columnist Saudi Arabia’s deputy defense minister. Margaret Sullivan said. “We should be shunning MBS and In early November, the Biden administration imposed his family members, and not have a normal relationship export controls on the NSO Group, an Israeli company with them.” that has supplied sophisticated surveillance technology, The administration did announce sanctions against known as Pegasus, to foreign governments, including Sau- various Saudis, plus visa restrictions, called “the Khashog- di Arabia, which used it to target the phones of journalists, gi ban,” which could be imposed “against agents of any for- along with heads of state, dissidents, human rights activ- eign government” who “suppress, harass, surveil, threaten ists, and others, including three members of Khashoggi’s or harm journalists.” family. An international collaboration of news organiza- Price said 76 Saudi individuals have been sanctioned tions had reported in July that Pegasus had been used to so far. “It is something that has been addressed at high target at least 180 journalists in 20 countries, including level discussions with the Saudis,” he told me. “It has been those working for The New York Times, The Wall Street discussed with MBS himself.” Journal, the Associated Press, CNN and Bloomberg News. However, the administration has not sanctioned Mo- The sanctions bar U.S. companies from doing business hammed bin Salman personally. President Biden has re- with NSO unless they receive explicit permission. fused to engage with him, but Biden’s national security “The State Department determined that NSO was ‘NIGHT AND DAY’: THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION AND THE PRESS
involved in activities that contravened national security,” Opinion polls still reflect widespread distrust of factual
Price said, leading to the Commerce Department’s deci- news media, especially among self-identified Republicans.
sion to take action against the company. “Any effort to tar- Attacks on the factual press by right-wing politicians and
get journalists’ activities anywhere in the world for their media figures continue unabated. Too many American
journalism is something that we are not going to stand journalists, especially women, are still subject to digital
for,” he told me. abuse and threats from the public. Right-wing outlets and
social media continue to spread lies and misinformation,
THE FUTURE OF THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION AND including the “big lie” claiming that the 2020 election was
stolen, that could undermine American democracy it-
THE PRESS self. An increasing number of authoritarian governments
W ith at least three years left in the Biden presidency, around the world are censoring and taking over news me-
there is much more to do to mitigate some of the dia and arresting and killing journalists.
lasting and continuing damage done to the news media by How the Biden administration responds to these chal-
Trump, his administration, and his followers in and out of lenges in word and deed will help determine the future of
politics and the media. the role of a free press at a turbulent time. •
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